Esperanza Fernández
“Cuatro guitarras y una voz”
Diego el Cigala / Salif Keita “M’Bemba”
Saturday, September 30th, 2006. 9:00pm Teatro Lope de Vega, 11:30pm Auditorio de La Cartuja

Special 14th Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla. Reviews, programa, photos...

Text: Estela Zatania

Paco Fernández Classic guitar: María Esther Guzmán. Flamenco guitar: Miguel Ángel Cortés, Paco Fernández. Percusion and palmas: Tete Peña. Palmas: Miguel Vargas, José Manuel Ramos. Guest artist: José Antonio Rodríguez

With the greatest of expectations we arrived at the Lope de Vega Theater for the show “Cuatro Guitarras y una Voz” [four guitars and a voice]. In a Bienal devoted to dance, with a dearth of cante, we would finally be able to revel in an evening of cante with a flamenco voice and the sound of, not one guitar, but four. Esperanza Fernández comes from a bona-fide flamenco family with deep roots up and down the Guadalquivir, and we’ve always accepted her experimental forays as appropriate to her generation because flamenco is in her and she delivers it with compás, knowledge and affection.

They had run out of programs, but an usherette managed to dig up some more…mere moments before the lights dimmed. So much the better. Flamenco isn’t to be read, but rather listened to, seen and felt. The guitarist comes on stage, and the image of a woman playing guitar is as surprising as it is refreshing. A hymn to the Virgen de la Macarena, and you see she’s a classical guitarist. Esperanza, wrapped up in one of her magnificent embroidered shawls, is standing behind a music stand and she makes a big effort to contain and play down the flamenconess of her voice, which by nature is outsized for these specific musical tasks. Up next is a series of classical songs based on the rich folkore of Andalusia, exquisitely delicate tunes accompanied by the merest plucking of guitar strings. You glance at your watch. The recital continues with more lyrical songs, the singer goes off stage and her accompanist plays “Asturias” of Albéniz which feels long despite the lady’s ability. You assume that when Esperanza returns it will be to adopt her legitimate voice and repertoire, and summon the duendes who are patiently waiting in the wings. But no. More popular songs. For a brief moment the one about the “paño moruno” triggers a voice in your head singing the famous soleá “Al paño fino en la tienda...”...and besides, where are all the guitarists and palmeros? The rhythm of folkloric seguidilla leads to another popular song. And another. And the minute hand seems to have begun moving in the opposite direction.

The image of a woman playing the guitar is as surprising as it is refreshing

When my watch says it’s ten o’clock, and still no flamenco on the horizon, I come to the conclusion that the world is too full of flamenco, and life, too short to remain in seat number 5, row 7 of the Lope de Vega Theater, which I then abandon to head for the Auditorium of the Cartuja for the shared concert of Diego el Cigala and Salif Keita. Later on, fellow-journalists tell me there was a second part to Esperanza’s recital and it was cante flamenco, but one hour of my life was forever gone. At the Teatro Alameda guitarist José Manuel León and dancer Andrés Peña are performing, but it’s physically impossible to make it on time due to the scheduling.

Diego el Cigala. Piano: Yumitus. Guitar: Diego del Morao. Double bass: Yelsy Heredia. Percussion: Sabu.

The open-air Auditorium of the Cartuja is like a small Hollywood Bowl. With a capacity of about five thousand, the extraordinary box office pull of Diego Ramón Jiménez Salazar, “Dieguito el Cigala”, nearly fills the place. It’s impressive to see so many people gathered in one place to hear this man, the once precocious child in Madrid’s Rastro, Camarón admirer and ultimately a big winner, thanks mostly to his recording of a collection of boleros interpreted with his flamenco sound, “Lágrimas Negras”, which enjoyed success unprecedented for a “mere” flamenco singer. The dimension of his popularity now requires these immense venues, and the diversity of faces among the audience is noteworthy.

A few years back Cigala spoke about his intention to record an anthology of cante. Now that goal seems as distant as unnecessary. The singer has transcended the uncomfortable barrier of flamenco and belongs to the world. On Saturday night, the last day of September, he came on with Jerez guitarist Diego del Morao, as well as a pianist, double bass and percussion to interpret songs from his latest recordings.

The extraordinary box office pull of Dieguito el Cigala

For the man-in-the-street flamenco fan, Diego del Morao’s bulerías guitar solo was worthy of mention, as was a selection of soleá cantes, no so much because of their quality, but because they afforded the rare opportunity to see people not particularly interested in flamenco behaving respectfully, and politely applauding Cigala’s version of this basic form. The excellent sound quality allowed the singer to address his fans in a gentle whisper as he might in the living-room of his house...it makes you realize what we put up with at so many festivals...

A taranta leads to mining cante por bulerías with piano and guitar, and the bolero version of “Corazón Loco” inevitably invites comparison with Bambino’s flamenco version of this same song. Machin’s famous “Dos Gardenias” is done to bulerías, and lastly, “La Bien Pagá” is developed and reprised to the outermost reaches of jazz. All that’s left is the traditional bulería before presenting Salif Keita who with his group offers a type of music which does not fall within the responsability or scope of this reviewer who returns home bemoaning the limited flamenco harvest on this eighteenth night of the Bienal de “Flamenco”.

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Special 14th Bienal de Flamenco. Program, reviews, photos